Blake Carson

💔 TRIBUTE: She earned her wings before she could drive. At 20, she flew her last flight higher than any jet can go. Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras was the co-pilot on the Learjet that went down near Greenacres, Florida on Sunday. Nine souls lost. She got her pilot license at 17, while she was still at West Boca Raton High. By 20 she had about 1,300 hours in her logbook and was flying for a living. She would have turned 21 in January. About 10 minutes before the end, she texted her boyfriend: "I've got turbulence, I've got ice." Then came the dive. Mayday calls. Over 20,000 feet per minute. And through it all she kept giving controllers the information they needed. Her friend since middle school said she was so proud of how calm Nathalia stayed. Her mom always knew. "I knew that a plane was gonna take her away from me. I always knew it but I was so proud of her. I know she was living her dream." Her stepdad, still waiting: "All we know is that our daughter is down there, under the ground with that airplane." And here is the part that breaks me. On that radio, behind the mayday calls, a man's voice can be heard reciting the Lord's Prayer. Friends believe it was her captain. "Thy kingdom come." So in her final moments, Nathalia was not alone. She was flying beside a man who was praying them both home. My take: the ice could take that airplane. It could never take where they were headed. A young pilot and her captain, going home together. No turbulence up there. No ice. Just clear sky. Fly high, Nathalia. You finally made it to the promised land.